Pirates Aren't All Bad
by Baxter54132
Summary: Tashigi is sick and I mean really sick. Who can save her? The Straw Hat Pirates of course! But will they? Rated T for one tiny swear word. ZoroxTashigi


One piece is my new obsession!!! I just love it so much. I've been watching for one week and I'm already on episode 56…

That's so sad

This is set after the Alabasta arc. Since I don't know Franky or Brooke and have only just met Robin they will not be in this story.

I'm going to put this into a newspaper I'm working on so wish me luck!

stupid friggin line remover removing all of my carefully thought out lines, i'm going to have to resort to this to inform you that this is where a line goes :/

Japanese translation

Nani = What

Morimo = Seaweed head

Chan = suffix for friend

It was a clear morning with a slight breeze but a pleasant warmth from the sun. This was all noted by the responsible navigator of the Going Merry as she stretched after a long restless night. It had been storming until 3 am and that doesn't make for very calm waters. She peers out across the water and to her surprise sees another ship. In fact it is a very familiar ship…

Nami quickly scales the ropes up to the skywatch and finds to her dismay that Zoro is once again sleeping on duty. She shakes his shoulders angrily. His eyes crack open and he shoots a glare at the red head.

"Nani?"

Nami glares back at the morimo. "You know exactly why I'm up here! You were supposed to be keeping watch!"

Zoro shrugs nonchalantly while sitting up. "It's not like anything ever happens anyways… your too worried all of the time Nami."

Nami grabs the telescope off of the counter and shoves it into Zoro's face. She directs his gaze towards the incoming ship. "Now Zoro, what do you think that it?"

Zoro sweatdrops as he immediately recognizes Smoker's ship. "That is the boat the Tashigi rides on," he states as if it were a fact.

Nami nods and motions for him to continue. "What else?"

"It's uh… oh! It's coming this way. Are they going to attack us?"

Nami sighs at Zoro's newest revelation. "Of course they are going to attack us. Come on, we have to warn the others."

With their discussion complete, Nami swings a leg over the basket and climbs back down to the deck. She runs into the sleeping quarters, presumably to warn the others of the marine ship that is currently riding full force right towards them.

Zoro slowly makes his way down to the deck being careful to keep one eye on the marine ship at all times. Luffy suddenly comes out of the quarters, one hand full with a meat stick and the other rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I'm 'yawn' ready to fight!" Luffy shouts through bites of his meat stick.

After five minutes or so the marine boat finally approaches. Surprisingly no enemy marines try to hook their boat. Instead a white flag pops out of the ground and an exhausted looking Smoker approaches their boat from across his deck. He puts his hands up as a sign of peace. Luffy stares with one of those blank expressions before suddenly waving and smiling like a madman. "Yo! Smoky-chan! What's up?"

Smoker sighs at Luffy's naivety. Zoro peers around the large captain and looks for a certain General Major. He doesn't see her blue hair or her red glasses so he shoots a questioning look at Smoker. Smoker looks at the ground, as if suddenly nervous.

Chopper walks up to the edge of the boat. He sniffs the air for a moment before a look of surprise crosses his face. "I smell sickness! Why are you here Smoker?"

Smoker glares at the small reindeer but opens his mouth to explain the situation. "We have a problem and I knew that your little doctor would be able to help. It's Tashigi, she has fallen ill and I don't know what to do. The doctors here have been trying to find a cure but have had no luck so far.

Zoro nudges Chopper to the side so he is face to face with the opposing captain. "How do we know this isn't a trap?" he asks suspiciously although it is obvious that he wants to jump to the other boat and go see Tashigi for himself.

An angry voice comes from behind Smoker. "That would be just like you Roranoa, to doubt a cry for help!"

Smoker turns around and puts his hand out to support the female. "Tashigi you should be in bed trying to get better, not up on deck arguing with some dumb pirates."

Tashigi shakes her head, "I just wanted to come up here to tell you that I don't need their help. I can get better all on my own!"

She glances over at the pirate group and her eyes meet Zoro's. He puts one foot on his railing and in one swoop hops over to the other boat. "Man Tashigi you look like you and death had a close encounter. Looks like we can't fight today eh? Oh well…"

Tashigi glares at the man as he towers over her shivering body. "I don't need your pity Roranoa Zoro!" She hisses into his ear.

He takes a step back looking hurt by her comment. "Fine! Just take Chopper and get better already! I'll be on my own boat if you want me to leave that badly." With that Zoro runs and hops back over to his own boat. Chopper climbs onto the railing and turns to Luffy for permission. Luffy nods but Nami puts her hand up for Chopper to wait.

"We have to discuss this," she murmurs into Luffy's ear.

"Oh! Good idea Nami. Lets go below deck and do it right now!"

All of the straw-hat pirates file downstairs to begin a very fiery discussion.

Zoro slams down his hand onto the table with fierce determination in his eyes. "We have to help her!" he glares around the table, daring someone to protest.

Luffy flashes a thumbs up and one of his famous smiles. "Of course!"

Nami sighs at the conversation and stands up quickly. "We can help her, but Chopper can't go over there! What if one of us gets sick? I say that we bring Tashigi on board to get treated here."

Chopper nods in agreement. "It would be easier to treat her here with all of my supplies."

Zoro sits down hastily, subdued by Nami's idea. He nods and glances at the table, ashamed that he thought that his nakama weren't going to treat the sick Tashigi.

Nami slides her chair back and makes her way to the door. When she reaches it she turns to address the crew. "Wait here while I go get her and be quiet! We have to prove to Smoker that we are trustworthy enough to take care of his Sergeant Major. Don't come out unless I call for you. Especially you!"

Zoro glances up and catches her gaze on him. He nods, confirming her message.

With that settled Nami heads out to tell Chopper what they decided.

"Oi Zoro" Usopp says quietly, "I thought you didn't care about that marine. What's with the sudden change?"

Across the table, Sanji's smile grows. "It's because he lo…" his sentence is cut short as Zoro slams a fist square into his cheekbone.

"It's because I want to kill her myself" Zoro says to Usopp with a deadly serious expression on his face.

"Ooh he looks serious." Laughs Luffy while raising a finger and pointing it at Zoro's almost expressionless face.

Before Zoro can respond the door swings open and Nami points to Luffy. "Come with me, I need help carrying her. You too Chopper. I'll be back to release the rest of you as soon as the marine's pull away."

Sanji immediately snaps his hand up in a salute. "Hai Nami-swan!"

Luffy and Chopper get up and follow Nami back onto the deck. Usopp quickly scrambles over to the nearest wall and presses his ear to it. He hears a loud thud of someone falling and quickly being picked up. Some yelling and then finally a loud thunk of someone's head getting hit and a loud laugh. The laughter turns into complaining as someone punches someone else really hard. The waters below shift, signifying that the marine ship is heading away. Usopp jumps away from the wall when he hears footsteps coming towards the room.

Nami pokes her head inside, "You guys can do whatever you want again, just stay away from the medical ward.

Nami's head is quickly replaced by Luffy's. "Sanji! Meat?"

Sanji stands up from the table and shakes his head. "Not now Luffy, can't you wait another hour until lunch?"

Zoro exits from the room, ignoring the argument between Luffy and Sanji. It is nothing new and therefore nothing worth hearing. Seeing that the coast is clear, Zoro scales the rope up to his training platform and does a quick glance of the boat activities. Seeing nothing of interest, he sits down and leans against a pillar to go through todays schedule.

Training, training, and more training. If I stay up here all day than I can avoid Tashigi for sure. That woman is just too troublesome for her own good.

With that settled Zoro begins the first thing on his list. Training…

* * *

8000 reps and about 5 hours later the sun finally decided to set on a very intriguing and different day. Unfortunately for Zoro, he had landed first watch and was in charge of making sure pirates didn't attack them in their sleep. He settles down for the night and stares off at the stars, letting his mind drift through memories.

After only a few minutes of quiet he hears shuffling and stumbling down on the deck. Zoro ignores it, figuring that it is only Luffy on his way to raid the fridge. He is proved wrong as moments later a head pops up over the nettings.

"You!" Both people yell simultaneously.

Tashigi slides onto the outlook and glares at the green haired swordsmen before her. "Is this where you usually keep watch? I would think you would be in the crow's nest."

Zoro glares from where he is sitting. "If I sit here than I can train instead of just staring off into space!"

Tashigi crosses her arms and challenges him with a level stare that only a marine could have. "Then why were you staring off into space before I came up here?"

"I was just thinking… this is none of your business! What are you doing here anyways? You looked so sick earlier, shouldn't you be sleeping."

Tashigi shrugs at Zoro's barrage of questions. "I don't need more rest and apparently all it took was the right medicine to fix me up. I'm headed out tomorrow so you won't have to avoid me anymore."

"I wasn't avoiding you!" Zoro jumps up from his seat so he is face to face with Tashigi. He is a few inches taller than her and gives off the 'go away right now or I'll tear you to pieces' vibe. Tashigi of course ignores this vibe and laughs out loud at Zoro's childlike reaction.

His glare intensifies as he realizes that she is mocking him. "You should be asleep," he states between clenched teeth.

As if to confirm this, a voice echoes out from the deck below. "Tashigi? Where did you go? I need to give you your medicine for tonight."

Zoro motions with his head towards the panicking reindeer, "You should go before he gets mad. The last time he got mad at Usopp he rammed a whole section of our boat into the sea. "

Tashigi turns back towards the ropes but pauses for a moment. "Thank you," she whispers quietly. So quietly in fact that Zoro almost doesn't catch it. After a moment he almost believes that it wasn't intended for him to hear. He looks down at his hands awkwardly.

"Ya well…" he glances up just to find that Tashigi is gone. He glares at the empty space in frustration.

The night goes through smoothly and fortunately no pirates attack them during the night. Morning comes and goes uneventfully although Zoro does notice that Tashigi sits down as far away from him as possible, probably intentionally.

An hour or so after breakfast Chopper calls a meeting together. He stands up on the upper deck and looks quite proud of himself. All of the crew gather below and wait for their doctor to speak.

"I have important news!" Chopper shouts dramatically, "As you all know we took Sergeant Major Tashigi into our care because she was very sick and Smoker thought that I would be able to heal her. Well I was! Tashigi is going to make a full recovery and is not contagious so she can return to her own ship as soon as we meet up with them. All she has to do is take the medicine I give her for the next week and she will be fine."

"Alright!" Cheers break out in the crew, "She isn't going to die! You really are amazing Chopper. I'm so glad you are one of my nakama."

"Oh Luffy, that doesn't flatter me at all, not even a little." Chopper blushes pink as he does his strange little 'I'm clearly lying to you about my feelings dance'.

The crew soon is tired of cheering and they go back to their business. Nami heads inside to the den den mushi to contact Smoker and shortly afterwards Zoro and Tashigi are the only two left on the deck. Tashigi leans against the railing and watches the ocean, her thoughts unknown to us. She feels a shift in the railing as a certain green haired swordsman settles to her left.

"Your welcome," he says quietly into her left ear.

She glances over at him strangely before realizing that he is talking about what happened last night. A light blush spreads across her cheeks and she quickly turns her head to hide it. "I didn't know you hear me…"

Unseen by Tashigi, a light smile settles on Zoro's face. He runs one hand through his hair nervously, "Yea well you didn't really give me any time to talk. You hustled out of their pretty quick. Why were you thanking me anyways?"

"I heard of how you defended me…"

"Really? From who?"

"I'll give you one guess."

"Nami?"

"…"

_Flashback Time!!!_

_Nami smiles warmly at Tashigi as she sits up in bed. "How are you feeling?"_

_Tashigi glances over in surprise at the red head. "I'm feeling much better," she admits. "Do you know what I had?"_

_Nami nods, "Chopper said that it was an illness that only women can get and it is from too much time without rest. You get horrible fever and other ailment symptoms that can only be healed by a certain medicine that we happen to have. So… what is up with you and Zoro?"_

_Tashigi reaches to her right and grabs her glasses off of the counter. Bringing them up to her face she thinks about her answer carefully. "Roranoa is my rival."_

"_Yea, but what else?" Nami hints._

_Tashigi pauses for a moment before catching Nami's meaning. "Nani? Zoro and I? Never! I can't stand him. He is such an asshole!"_

_Nami shakes her head with a small chuckle, "That asshole was the first member to stand up for you staying here. Did you know that?"_

_Tashigi shakes her head no._

_Nami nods, "It's true. As soon as we went downstairs he was 100% for having you come aboard the ship. If we had said no he probably would have snuck you medicine or something."_

_Tashigi looks down at her hands and then glances over, noticing the shine of Shigure's sheath leaning against the wall. "Now what?"_

_Nami smiles and pulls a pair of Sandals out of a closet. "Now you go say thank you!"_

_Flashback over!!!_

Somewhere below deck Nami lets off a vicious sneeze.

Sanji glances up from his cooking, "Nami-swan are you okay?"

Nami nods and glances up to the deck, "Someone must be talking about me that's all.

Back on deck Zoro and Tashigi are just staring at each other, drinking in the other person's facial features.

_Man_ thinks Tashigi _he's got nice eyebrows, and eyes, and a cute nose, and a nice mouth. What am I thinking? He is a pirate, the enemy!_

Zoro's mind isn't much different. _I like her new glasses… wow her lips look kissable. Huh? Where did that come from? Are her lips getting closer or is it just me?_

It isn't just him. Entranced in their thoughts, the pair didn't notice that they were slowly getting closer to each other until their lips meet in gentle contact.

Tashigi jumps at first but then melts into the kiss.

"TASHIGI!" A loud voice booms in her head. Oh wait, that is a real person. Tashigi jumps back from Zoro and sees a cheesy grin stretch across his face. She nervously glances to where the voice came from and sees the one and only Captain Smoker glaring in their direction.

"S-Smoker-taicho! I uh…"

Smoker puts a hand up to stop her. "You don't need to explain, just get on board." He redirects his gaze to Zoro, "If you ever hurt her than I will kill you with my own two hands."

Zoro nods waits for the ship to pull away. After a few moments the marine ship recedes and Zoro just watches, still lost in thought about the kiss.

_I know she's a marine, but maybe we can make this work_

_I know he's a pirate, but maybe all pirates aren't bad._

stupid friggin line remover removing all of my carefully thought out lines, i'm going to have to resort to this to inform you that this is where a line goes :/

Wow this is so long!

I really had a fun time writing this and hope you all enjoyed reading it.

I do appreciate constructive criticism because I know that I am nowhere near a perfect writer. Pointing out my errors will help me improve in the future.

Thanks!


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